Toy and delayed release propelling mechanism therefor

ABSTRACT

A toy having a spring driven propelling mechanism including an axially movable rod which is propelled to the rear of the vehicle by the spring and which, when the vehicle is placed against a vertical barrier, propells the vehicle forward by reaction force. The delayed release mechanism includes a frame having parallel sides and end walls in which the rod is journaled for axial movement. The sides have indentations which extend inwardly toward, but do not contact, the rod and its surrounding spring. The rod carries an elastic member which is pushed forwardly of the indentations when the spring is compressed. The spring gradually forces the elastic member past the indentations and, when the elastic member is clear of the indentations, the spring is permitted to rapidly expand, suddenly causing the rod to move toward the barrier, causing the vehicle to rapidly move forward.

United States Patent 1191 Cusp 1 1 Jan. 30, 1973 541 TOY AND DELAYED RELEASE 3,216,529 11/1965 L01" ..l85/37 x PROPELLING MECHANISM Primary Examiner- Edgar W. Geoghegan THEREFOR [76] Inventor Enrique A Cosp Jejui 438 Asun Attorney-Roylance, Brams, Kruger, Berdo & Kaul Clo, Paraguay 57 ABSTRACT [22] Filed: July 1971 A toy having a spring driven propelling mechanism in [21] APPL 1 7 004 cluding an axially movable rod which is propelled to the rear of the vehicle by the spring and which, when Related U.S. Application Data the vehicle is placed against a vertical barrier, propells [62] Divigion of Ser No 69 812 Se t 4 1970 Pat No the vehicle forward by reaction force. The delayed 3 d 453 i release mechanism includes a frame having parallel sides and end walls in which the rod is journaled for axial movement. The sides have indentations which [52] U.S. Cl. ..185/37, 185/40 H, 85/352016, extend inwardly toward, but do not Contact, the rod [51] Int Cl F03 1/00 and its surrounding spring. The rod carries an elastic [58] Fie'ld member which is pushed forwardly of the indentations 8 when the spring is compressedv The spring gradually forces the elastic member past the indentations and, 56 R f C1 d when the elastic member is clear of the indentations, l e erences Ie the spring is permitted to rapidly expand, suddenly UNITED STATES PATENTS causing the rod to move toward the barrier, causing 735 221 2H9 F Id 46/202 the vehlcle to rapldly move forward. 2, 1e s 2,803,922 8/1957 Holt ..46/202 2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures l 1 I I 1 1 1 1 r 13 1s; :25 :4 h 21 l 6 l8 1 1 E ;::i 30 23 1, f 20 2 ll l z I I7 1 22 2 7 l I J1 1 1 3 1s 14 H2 3 TOY AND DELAYED RELEASE PROPELLING MECHANISM THEREFOR This application is a division of my copending application Ser. No. 69,812, filed Sept. 4, 1970, now US. Pat. No. 3,670,453, granted June 20, 1972 for Toy and Delayed Release Propelling Mechanism.

This invention relates to spring propelled objects and especially to spring propelled toy vehicles with delayed release means.

Spring propelled devices in many forms are well known in the toy field, including spring propelled vehicles. Specifically, it is well known to provide a wheeled toy with spring means designed to act against a fixed barrier for the purpose of causing the vehicle to be propelled across a surface by reaction force in response to the release of the spring by manually operated means of some kind.

In all of the known prior art, it has been necessary to manually actuate a latching device or the like in order to permit the toy to operate.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a release mechanism, primarily for use in a toy, by which release of the spring energy is automatically accomplished after a time delay.

A further object is to provide a wheeled toy incorporating a spring propulsion device which operates after a delay following storage of energy in the spring.

Briefly summarized, the invention includes a vehicle body, a frame mounted in the body, a drive member mounted in the frame for axial bidirectional movement with respect thereto, a spring urging the drive member to an extended position in which it protrudes beyond the limits of the body, and stop means for limiting the motion of the drive member. An elastic member is mounted on and carried by the drive member and is movable axially within the frame with the drive member. Indentations protrude inwardly from the frame toward the rod and tend to resist movement of the elastic member past the indentations. When the spring is manually compressed and then released the elastic member is gradually forced past the indentations by the spring until it clears the indentations at which time the spring energy is suddenly released causing the drive member to be rapidly moved to its extended position. When the vehicle is placed adjacent a barrier, the sudden extension of the drive member causes the vehicle to move by reaction force. The time occupied by forcing the elastic member past the indentations introduces a time delay between energy storage and energy release.

In order that the manner in which the foregoing and other objects are attained in accordance with the invention can be understood in detail, particularly advantageous embodiments thereof will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the specification, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a preferred embodiment of the invention with the drive member in its extended position;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial bottom view showing the delay release mechanism with the spring in its compressed condition; and

FIG. 4 is a vertical section along lines 4-4 of FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, a preferred embodiment of the invention includes a vehicle body 1 which is provided with downwardly extending support members 2 which have openings for an axle which carries wheels 3. The specific configuration of the vehicle body and the wheel and support members are of little consequence to the present invention in that the body could take the shape of any kind of vehicle or other suitable configuration. Of greater consequence in FIG. 1 is the provision of a frame 4 mounted beneath body 1, or within the body in the event of a hollow structure such as that shown in the drawings. A drive member comprising a rod 5 is supported for axial movement in frame 4 and extends therethrough. At the rear of the vehicle rod 5 is attached to an impact member 6 which terminates in an elastic bumper 7 made of rubber or soft plastic or the like. As will be described hereinafter, the apparatus of the present invention is designed to cause rod 5 and impact member 6 to be moved toward the rear of the vehicle in rapid motion in the direction of arrow 8 so that when the vehicle is placed with the rear portion of the vehicle adjacent a substantially vertical barrier or wall 9 the bumper 7 contacts the wall and, by reaction force, causes the vehicle to move quickly in the direction of arrow 10 along a surface 11 on which the wheels 3 rest.

The rod and impact member are shown in FIG. 1 protruding from the rear of the vehicle to their greatest extent, a condition which will be referred to hereinafter asthe extended position. The position occupied in FIG. 1 would be that which the vehicle would occupy for a very brief period of time after the rod and impact member had been forced rearwardly in the operation of the mechanism so that, inthis condition, the vehicle would be rapidly moving away from barrier 9.

The mechanism by which the above operation is performed and by which a delay is introduced is more clearly shown in the bottom view of FIG. 2 in which like numerals are used for identification. As will be seen in FIG. 2; a horizontal brace 12 extends across the interior of the vehicle body and is attached thereto. A plate 13 is connected to brace 12 by suitable fasteners such as bolts 14 and nuts 15. Frame 4 is formed integrally with, or securely attached to, plate 13 and includes longitudinal sides 16 and 17 and transverse end walls 18 and 19. Side and end walls 16-19 are formed into a rectangle, the long dimension of which is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. End walls 18 and 19 are provided with openings through which rod 5 passes. A transverse pin 20 passes through and is attached to rod 5. A rigid annular washer 21 surrounds rod 5 and lies between pin 20 and end wall 19. Washer 21 can conveniently be made of a very hard rubber or plastic material and need not be resilient. The function of washer 21 and pin 20 is to limit the axial motion of the drive assembly including members 5, 6 and 7 in the axial direction, especially to the rear of the vehicle. A resilient member 22 is provided with a central opening and surrounds rod 5 between pin 20 and end wall 18. A compression coil spring 23 also surrounds rod 5 and extends between the inner surface of end wall 18 and resilient member 22. Side walls 16 and 17 are provided with inwardly extending indentations or dimples 25 and 26 which extend toward each other at approximately the mid point of the side walls of frame 4. It will be observed that the distance between the inner limits of indentations 25 and 26 is greater than the maximum diameter of spring 23 and, hence, substantially greater than the diameter of rod 5. However, this distance is less the maximum transverse dimension of resilient member 22.

This can more clearly be seen in the sectional view in FIG. 4 in which the dimension d between the inner limits of these indentations is clearly smaller than the transverse dimension of member 22. It will further be observed in FIG. 4 that member 22 is substantially square. This, however, is not a critical factor as the resilient member can take on substantially any shape so long as the outer transverse limits of the resilient member occupy a distance greater than the distance d of FIG. 4 between the indentations. The resilient member must, of course, be smaller than the transverse distance between the remainder of the walls so that it can move relatively freely in the axial or longitudinal direction of the vehicle.

In operation, the spring is compressed by placing bumper 7 against a firm surface such as barrier 9 and then pressing the body of the vehicle, carrying the frame, toward the barrier in the direction of arrow 30. Movement of the vehicle body and frame 4 toward the barrier causes the rod to move axially toward the front of the vehicle, carrying with it pin and, with the pin acting against the elastic member 22, carrying the elastic member and one end of the spring toward end wall 18. When the spring is fully compressed and the pressure against the vehicle body is removed the apparatus appears from below as shown in FIG. 3 with spring 23 fully compressed, member 6 drawn inwardly almost to end wall 19, rod 5 protruding forwardly from the frame, and elastic member 22 pressing against the forward surfaces of indentations and 26. However, there is no apparent motion in the structure for some period of time so long as all remains as shown in FIG. 3. However, the force of spring 23 continually presses rearwardly against the forward surface of elastic member 22, causing it to gradually creep between the inner surfaces of indentations 25 and 26. After some period of time, which is a function of the characteristics of spring 23, the dimension of gap d, and the elastic characteristics of member 22, the elastic member moves slightly rearwardly until the outer edges thereof reach the innermost portions of the indentations at which time there is no longer any restraining force tending to keep the elastic member forward of the indentations. At that point, the spring is permitted to extend rapidly to its fullest limit, or to the limits imposed by the distance between end walls 18 and 19. When the spring extends to its fullest dimensions it carries with it elastic member 22 and pin 20 and, accordingly, rod 5. The structure then very rapidly returns to the position shown in FIG. 2, causing sudden relative motion between rod 5 and body 1 of the vehicle. If bumper 7 has been resting against barrier 9, rod 5 is prevented from moving. Accordingly, the spring forces end wall 18 to move, carrying with it all of frame 4, plate 13 and the body of the vehicle. The vehicle then is propelled forwardly as a result of this sudden motion and glides across surface 11 until stopped by friction or another object.

As will be seen, in the rearward motion of rod 5 relative to the frame, washer 21 provides an impact buffer between pin 20 and end wall l9 In a lightweight plastic vehicle of approximately 3 inches overall length and with a frame and remaining structure proportioned approximately as shown in FIG. 2, and having a gap between indentations 25 and 26 of about one-fourth inch, an elastic member of rectangular shape having approximately the resiliency of a pencil eraser and a thickness of about one-sixteenth inch was found to give a delay of roughly 15 seconds between compression of the spring and the point in time at which member 22 worked its way past indentations 25 and 26.

It will be readily apparent that the delay structure disclosed herein is usable in devices other than toy automotive vehicles, and that the device need not, in fact, be a wheeled vehicle at all. While one advantageous embodiment has been chosen to illustrate the invention it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A delayed-release spring mechanism comprising the combination of an output shaft;

means for supporting said shaft for longitudinal movement between a first position and a second position;

a resilient body carried by said shaft,

said resilient body having a normal, undistorted shape in which said body has a predetermined transverse dimension perpendicular to the direction of movement of said shaft,

said resilient body being movable along a path between two positions when said shaft is moved between said first and second positions;

a constricted passageway for said body,

said passageway being disposed along the path of movement of said resilient body with the constriction being between said two positions,

the transverse dimension of the constriction being less than said predetermined transverse dimension of said body; and

spring means for urging said shaft toward said second position,

whereby said body and said constriction introduce a delay in the movement of said shaft from said first position to said second position.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said means for supporting said shaft comprises two parallel end walls,

and wherein said constricted passageway, said resilient body, and said spring means all lie between said end walls. 

1. A delayed-release spring mechanism comprising the combination of an output shaft; means for supporting said shaft for longitudinal movement between a first position and a second position; a resilient body carried by said shaft, said resilient body having a normal, undistorted shape in which said body has a predetermined transverse dimension perpendicular to the direction of movement of said shaft, said resilient body being movable along a path between two positions when said shaft is moved between said first and second positions; a constricted passageway for said body, said passageway being disposed along the path of movement of said resilient body with the constriction being between said two positions, the transverse dimension of the constriction being less than said predetermined transverse dimension of said body; and spring means for urging said shaft toward said second position, whereby said body and said constriction introduce a delay in the movement of said shaft from said first position to said second position.
 1. A delayed-release spring mechanism comprising the combination of an output shaft; means for supporting said shaft for longitudinal movement between a first position and a second position; a resilient body carried by said shaft, said resilient body having a normal, undistorted shape in which said body has a predetermined transverse dimension perpendicular to the direction of movement of said shaft, said resilient body being movable along a path between two positions when said shaft is moved between said first and second positions; a constricted passageway for said body, said passageway being disposed along the path of movement of said resilient body with the constriction being between said two positions, the transverse dimension of the constriction being less than said predetermined transverse dimension of said body; and spring means for urging said shaft toward said second position, whereby said body and said constriction introduce a delay in the movement of said shaft from said first position to said second position. 